


The Very First One

by lasairfhiona



Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-18
Updated: 2011-04-18
Packaged: 2017-10-18 07:16:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/186352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lasairfhiona/pseuds/lasairfhiona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Anita sees and article and it sets off a memory</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Very First One

Anita looked at the headline _Nelson Institute of Marine Research founder dead at 93_ the picture of a much younger than ninety red-headed man looked vaguely familiar. She read the article. The names were familiar in a way that people you hear about in the news are familiar. It was when she saw the picture of Nelson on the second page with the commander of his research submarine that she remembered.

It was after her mother died and she was visiting the aquarium. She didn't remember why she was there, but she remembered a tall dark-haired man leaving his conversation and coming to talk to her as she sat watching the penguins.

Slowly it came back to her and she remembered him sitting with her and telling fantastic tales about his adventures that as a child she was sure left her wide eyed with wonder.

Setting her mug down, she walked back to her bedroom and dug through the pile of stuffed penguins to find the almost threadbare little penguin. She hadn't remembered where it came from until now, just that it was the first of many stuffed penguins she'd end up collecting. He'd given it to her to make her smile.

Walking back to the kitchen, she ignored Nathaniel's questioning look at her actions and she set the penguin on the table. Sipping her coffee, she looked at the toy and let the memories nearly forgotten come back. She hadn't known he was an important man, there on business with his friend, she just remembered he was a 'grown-up' who thought she was important enough to take time to talk to. Her father had tried to make her give it back but the man she now knew was Lee Crane had spoken to him and she got to keep her toy.

Not that she expected him to remember a little girl whose day he brightened twenty years ago just by talking to her, but the part of her that had been brought up to write thank you notes and do things a certain way wanted to write him a note to express her condolences about his friend's death. She remembered how alone she felt that day, and he made her feel important, like she mattered.

Reaching for a pen and the notepad she always kept near the phone, she started her letter without fully knowing what she was going to say, she just knew she had to say something.


End file.
